SEWARD, Neb. – School record holder in the 1,000 meters and NAIA national champion in the mile, Dr. Brandon Seifert, M.D. will take his place amongst the NAIA’s elite student-athletes in history. In conjunction with NAIA Awards Day on Monday (Sept. 15), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics announced Seifert as one of nine inductees as part of the NAIA Hall of Fame Class of 2025. Originally from Grand Island, Neb., Seifert graduated from Concordia University, Nebraska in 2001. Seifert will be officially inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame at a ceremony (details to be announced).
Seifert becomes the fifth Concordia Bulldog athlete to earn induction into the NAIA Hall of Fame, joining Carol (Bailey) Moravec ‘90, Gene Brooks ‘91, Kregg Einspahr ’82 and Ross Wurdeman ’02. Additionally, former Concordia Cross Country and Track & Field coach (head coach from 1978 through 1989) John Knight is also an NAIA Hall of Fame member.
The following text is Seifert’s bio as published in 2018 when Seifert was inducted into the Concordia Athletics Hall of Fame.
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Dr. Brandon Seifert Bio
A standout in a long line of star distance runners during the tenure of Coach Kregg Einspahr, Dr. Brandon Seifert, M.D. reached the pinnacle when he galloped to a national title in the one-mile race at the 2000 NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships. In track and field alone, he totaled eight All-America honors and six NIAC/GPAC individual titles as part of his standout career. Originally from Grand Island, Neb., Seifert continues to own the school record in the 1,000-meter run (2:25.60) while also ranking second in the one mile (4:07.82) and in the 3,000 meters (8:18.77) on the program’s indoor lists. He also ran the fastest split (1:50) for the school record holding 4x800 meter relay (7:31.00) in 2000. Seifert helped lead the 2000 squad to an indoor national runner-up finish. As a cross country competitor, Seifert achieved All-America status three times, with two top 10 place finishes at the national championships, and captured three individual conference titles. Additionally, at the conclusion of his career he held four cross country course records. Seifert paced the Bulldogs to a 1997 NIAC cross country title and 11th place national standing. Also a six-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete, Seifert won the prestigious AO Duer Award (presented annually to a male and female junior student-athlete who has excelled in scholarship, character and citizenship) and was named the 2000-01 Concordia Senior Male Athlete of the Year.
While at Concordia, Brandon met his future wife Vanessa. They reside in Lincoln, Nebraska, and have two children, Victoria and Lydia. A 2001 graduate, Seifert earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Concordia. He went on to obtain his medical doctorate from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2006. Since 2012, Dr. Seifert has worked at Lincoln Orthopaedic Center and serves as a team physician for numerous local colleges, high schools and organizations, including Concordia. Brandon, who holds membership in many medical organizations, is a member of Calvary Lutheran Church.
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In reacting to his inclusion in the NAIA Hall of Fame, Seifert stated, “Coach Einspahr had called and gave me the news. That kind of news is not something you ever expect. It’s something for me that was so far out there. I thought would be amazing if it ever happened, but I never really thought it was a possibility. The opportunity to be in the Hall of Fame at Concordia felt like a lifetime achievement. When Coach Einspahr called, I didn’t have words. I was quite stunned. I’ve known some people along the way that are in the NAIA Hall of Fame. Just knowing the incredible accomplishments that they had and how much I held them in high esteem makes this very humbling. It’s an incredible honor to be put in that category.”
Said Dr. Kregg Einspahr of Seifert, “Brandon was a fierce competitor and respected throughout the conference, the NAIA, and college track world for his determination and efforts to make the most of both his athletic and academic abilities. He went from being a successful high school runner from Grand Island, Nebraska, to a nationally competitive runner in college. I was blessed to have been given the opportunity to coach him and to teach him during his college career. Brandon truly exhibited the characteristics of discipline, commitment, leadership, charity, kindness and selflessness that gained him respect from his teammates, fellow competitors and opposing coaches. He has now used his abilities and interests to become a highly respected orthopedic surgeon and authority in sports medicine. I am fortunate to have worked with him in the past and now regard him as a close friend and professional consultant.”
Ahead of his induction into the Concordia Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018, Seifert was featured on the Concordia Athletics website in an article that can be found HERE.
Dr. Seifert provided additional commentary after learning of his NAIA Hall of Fame selection. Below are some highlights.
On NAIA Hall of Fame selection: “It’s such an amazing honor. For me and where I came from and where I was at athletically in high school, it wasn’t even on my radar to be thinking about the hall of fame, whether it be Concordia or especially the NAIA. To get to this level and to have the success that I had and be accepted into the hall of fame, it’s not just me that can do something like that. I had so much support behind me. I have amazing parents that were always there to drive me to practice and to drive all over the country and support me. They believed in me and encouraged me. It takes your coaches. I have to thank Coach Einspahr and all the motivation he gave me – and all the other coaches at Concordia. The professors at Concordia were so motivating as well. I think of people like Dr. Matthews and Dr. Pflieger, who would pull me aside after class and tell me great job. Those kinds of things were so helpful. It’s important to recognize that these aren’t individual honors. This honor goes out to everyone who helped make it a possibility. It really takes a team approach. It’s been a gift from Christ to have the opportunity to achieve these things. It’s a day for being humble. I’m just thankful.”
Most memorable moment from Concordia career: “Going into my junior year of cross country, I had surgery in June of that summer. Because of surgery on my knee, I could not run. I missed the outdoor track season. I tried to get over it and then eventually had surgery. I wasn’t able to train all summer, which is a big part of running in college. I think I was cleared to start running in the first part of August. I basically started at ground zero in August. I had been an All-American in cross country, but I had to build all the way back. I remember those first couple of meets I was really struggling. I wasn’t in very good shape. I lost to athletes I never lost to before. I just kept working. I was super motivated. It wasn’t until I got to the conference meet where I was just starting to get to the level of fitness that I needed. It was terrible weather conditions, but I was determined to win conference that day. I was able to go out and win that race. It was a dead heat in the last mile. I was able to put it together. I wanted it so bad and ended up winning the race. That is one of those that stuck in mind thinking about how far I had to go to get back to where I had been before surgery. Now it’s such a big part of my life because I perform surgery every day and take care of athletes every day. That memory would be at the top of the list.”
Choosing Concordia: “Coach Einspahr was terrific as a recruiter. I met him at state track my junior year of high school. I had run really well in a race there. It was probably the best race I had run all season. He came down and introduced himself after the state track meet and I began getting recruiting letters throughout the summer. I conversed with him a couple of times over the summer. I enjoyed the conversations with him. I really liked that Concordia was a Christian university. I was really interested in going to a Christian university that professed its faith as part of the curriculum. Coach Einspahr was the first in-home visitor I had as a coach. It was awesome. Right away, I was super comfortable. He brought plans for the track that was not built yet. He brought those with him in a picture frame. I remember him describing that and his vision. Looking at all the things he had accomplished and how focused and serious he was about track was very motivating. We shared the same goals. That meeting was really what got the ball rolling. The conversations continued and I came for a visit at Concordia, probably about a month later. It was one of those absolute God things. I had visited another campus and really liked it. I was leaning hard towards that. Then we came to Concordia and I remember getting in a car with my parents after talking to Coach Einspahr, and I said, ‘This is where I’m going.’ The interactions with the professors and the comfort level with the campus and Coach Einspahr – all those things really came together. God showed us that this is where He wanted me to be. I can’t say enough ‘thank yous’ that I ended up there. It was so awesome. I met my wife at Concordia, and we had such an amazing experience there. I would not change anything about it.”
Coach Einspahr: “Coach Einspahr is such a high achiever, and I felt like I had that motivation as well. We really jelled in terms of what our goals were. My expectations were super high, and I know his were as well. I felt like he had such a great balance for motivating you and also giving you enough of that encouragement along the way. He did a good job of finding that balance to keep the motivation there to keep working harder and getting better. He also helped you enjoy the success that you had. He was great about that. He is terrific at coaching in general. My success is such a big part of him being a great coach and knowing exactly how to train us. His training program was perfect for what I needed. I knew he had gone through a similar training program and had achieved all these amazing things in the running world. Knowing you had someone like him as your coach who had done it already was so motivating. You can make it at a place like this. You can go and race in these big races and compete against these Division I schools. It gives you confidence knowing you can do that. He was so good about using that. I remember we went and raced at Wisconsin-La Crosse. It was great because Minnesota and Wisconsin would come. At that time, Wisconsin was ranked No. 2 in the nation in Division I cross country. I just remember showing up at that race and being excited because I knew they were coming. They had three All-Americans on their team and I was going to get a chance to race those guys. I still remember walking up to the line and looking at those guys and saying to Coach Einspahr, ‘Wow, those guys are really fit.’ He looked at me and was like, ‘Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You look just like those guys.’ That was such a confidence boost. I went out and almost beat their top guy. I got second that day and I beat their second guy who was a Division I All-American. Those things that Coach Einspahr would say were awesome and so motivating. Those were things that put you at that next level mentally to go compete at that level.”